DISGUSTING CONDO WITH COCKROACHES in Honolulu, HI

Posted on April 11, 2016

I’m a nice guy with a wife and two young kids. I was foolish enough to book with airbnb and stay at 1909 Ala Wai Blvd, Honolulu. This is the review I wish someone had written so I could have read it and avoided the nightmare stepping foot into this building.

WARNING TO ALL: this building is a broken down DUMP infested with cockroaches and located in a very seedy area. Immediately CANCEL if you have rented a condo here (thru airbnb-dot-com or whatever).

Our story:

1) We airbnb rented a condo on the 3rd floor

2) arrived to find 1909 Ala Wai to be an old dilapidated disgusting building with MANY condos in obvious disrepair.

3) the people we saw in the elevators and hallways looked like hookers and thugs, total deadbeats. No exaggeration.

4) opened door to the 3rd floor condo and saw dozens of huge cockroaches scurrying across floor. Same sight in EVERY room and cupboard! We even saw cockroaches running up the walls!

5) Windows broken out, no screens on windows, holes in wall, tile broken up on floors. We called the agent (handling this airbnb property) and they came over and even they were disgusted (or pretended to be!) We refused to spend one night there because my entire family was so disgusted with 1909 Ala Wai Blvd.

WHY AIRBNB SUCKS: As soon as that airbnb “host” for that cockroach filled condo realized we would NOT stay in her property, she told us “I see you want to cancel this reservation. So I’ll just go now and cancel it” By cancelling AS HOST she just prevented another disgusted renter from posting an ACCURATE negative review of the property on airbnb. You see? That’s why airbnb has positive reviews for properties that are disgusting cockroach and bedbug infested DUMPS. The host just cancels the reservations of unhappy renters so they cannot post negative reviews! Go read the Yelp reviews also. Search for cockroach. Be surprised how many agree with my above review. LESSON-LEARNED: you can go to airbnb and rent a property with GREAT reviews and often find that property is cockroach and bedbug infested DUMP in seedy dangerous area. Guess who wrote those “great” reviews? The HOST agent who owns the cockroach property!

Airbnb’s Unethical Service Fees

Posted on April 9, 2016

Let me start by saying I am a host and other people have cancelled on me before. I also use Airbnb to travel to other sites. It is currently April. I booked a trip for July for work back in January. However, funding for my trip was cancelled and I am no longer able to go on the trip. I wrote to the host and asked if she would be willing to cancel my trip and issue a full refund. She said, “Yes of course! Let me just figure out how!” So I waited and waited and later got notification that she acknowledged my cancellation and issued a refund of about 3/4 of the money she said she would. Meanwhile, Airbnb kept $70 of the original amount I paid, citing that they were “service fees” and, therefore, nonrefundable. A service rep wrote to congratulate me that the host refunded the room outside of the strict policy (less than she said she would refund). I responded asking to be refunded the $70 services fees. Back and forth, back and forth. And still the answer was “no, the service fees will not be refunded.” Note that it is early April and there are still over three months before my planned check-in date. As a host, I KNOW that the likelihood of re-booking is high. Airbnb has a valuation of billions of dollars and now I understand why: keeping money for services NOT rendered and unethically keeping any money they are able to process… simply because “you agreed to” when this caveat is written in fine print somewhere. The attitude reminds me of street vendors in 3rd world countries. I’m not opening a dispute with my credit card company and hoping to find an alternative to Airbnb to both host and locate other go-to destinations.

Airbnb Prepaid Reservation: Give me back my Money!

Posted on April 7, 2016

As a guest, I made a pre-reservation for one night in another city in Poland. (As you already know, you have to prepay for it immediately, even if it is not confirmed). I’ve been waiting for an answer from the host for 24 hours. Unfortunately, the reservation expired. I received a message from Airbnb: the payment for my expired reservation will be in my bank account in 7 business days. As of now (10 working days after the fact) I haven’t received my money for an unconfirmed reservation! Contact with Airbnb in Poland is totally impossible! I’m so mad about it! Please help!

Vacation Ruined: Airbnb Canceled Prior to Arrival

Posted on April 6, 2016

So, I was supposed to attend Bauma Munich 2016 in April. You know how Bauma Munich took up so many hotels and apartments in Munich? Well, you better book your hotels early. I booked mine very early, and you know what? They canceled six days before my departure to Bauma. You know what’s even more annoying? The hotel rates all went up sky high; if only I had known Airbnb was going to cancel, I could have saved so much on my hotel fees to go to Munich. But due to this incompetent Airbnb host and staff, my booking got canceled and I had to pay extra to book a hotel at the last minute. One more thing: one of the staff at Airbnb chose not to help me because I was assigned to another person to help out already. So, after wasting your money to call Airbnb, they refuse to help you because you were in contact with a different person before.

Can you imagine how bad Airbnb is? YES! It’s that Bad! So, I asked for a full refund. It’s still being processed, but really it’s a freaking nightmare. DO NOT BOOK VIA AIRBNB! I REPEAT: DO NOT BOOK VIA AIRBNB. IS IT WORTH THE RISK? THINK ABOUT IT AGAIN!

Ants and Home Invasions: Emails from a Nasty Host

Posted on April 5, 2016

Email from Host:

Good morning Li Ming,

I was going to message you again – but think it’s best we speak via the Airbnb website so there’s a record of all communications. I appreciate your message – I hope the fresh figs and pears were interesting and delicious; it is nice to have something so natural. As for the ants (not related to the fridge), I saw your three photos but could not really see anything – maybe a dot or two – I do of course believe you, but please understand these are native creatures – tiny tiny black ants – actually attracted to water or sugar – or moving because of the coming rain. As you requested I have visited and poured a special low toxicity product, “Ant Rid”, at two locations – one by the bathroom door and also by the front door. I noticed, however, even more ants outside (that’s good) but moving around on the veranda ceiling so I also put some liquid outside the door. The ants will take this back to their nest and reduce the population.

However, these are regular Australian Black Ants – harmless and just part of the landscape. The fridge – I went to remove the offending items – contained I believe a packet of frozen vegetables, mayonnaise, jam and a jar of crushed garlic… actually three jars of mayonnaise. I took these offending items (oh, and two fresh eggs) left by the previous guests to share and not waste. I wiped all the shelves and took the one little piece of red onion skin from the vegetable crisper space. I have photographed the items – and will post this for all to see. I think personally your request is a bit reactionary – maybe it is a cultural gap. Many guests thank me for providing items like oil (open oil – not brand new that I had purchased), leaving a few eggs – messages come like “Hi Jon, can we use the eggs in Fridge?” – me “Yes of course” – and a jar of crushed garlic good until August 2016.

It looks like two spoons were used and the rest were enough for guests to cook something. I also provide hand soap – but not bars of soap. I provide a few toilet rolls but I am not “required to.” I offer the essentials so you can manage until you go shopping. This is not a hotel – it is twice as big with a yard and free parking at a lesser price. Maybe it is cultural – I didn’t really enjoy visiting Singapore very much – I thought it was bland and sort of boring – but at the same time I appreciated the work culture and making something of nothing – the political stability is good too.

So it is different than here. I enjoyed the difference and you should to. On another note – I noticed you left the heating on at 25 degrees while you were out, may I suggest this is environmentally a bad practice and also wasteful and neglectful. 22 degrees is enough and in fact the weather is so mild as to not require any heating or cooling – then again when it is 38 degrees here I still do not use our own air conditioning – I feel it is for weak people that hide from – yet damage – the environment. Anyway, I hope your few ants leave the hall way and the fridge is now empty of those annoying items. I am now going to cook an omelette using the two eggs. Oh, I know you like fresh items – the unit next door is also mine, and in front of the veranda is fresh parsley, basil, and chives. There is more than we ever can use so feel free to cut or pick some and enjoy your visit. Be careful of Tiger Snakes on the river trail.

– Jon

Reply from Me:

Dear Jon,

Thank you for your feedback. Here is ours. Your sign on the door says “Please feel free to contact owner if there are any concerns…” – We contacted you and got slammed for the trouble. Hmm. Not good. Your messages and email replies – Full of personal attacks – perhaps it’s a cultural thing like you mentioned. Not good. We tend to be professionals when it comes to business and expected the same from the other party. Our bad. You (the owner) entering the rented premises without first contacting us – unprofessional and a breach of security. Ants – a few, no problem but increasing in numbers, a slight worry, just thought you as the owner might want to know. Your liquid ant bait – not working as shown in the pics. We had to purchase Baygon. Wham, no more ants instantly. And interestingly enough, there was no rain except for a slight drizzle on the last of our 4-night stay. Hmmm… so I wonder why the ants decided to invade the house… And you are right, it is indeed not our culture to cohabit with a bunch of ants (or other insects) in our home when possible.

A few frozen vegetables? I’m sorry, but the freezer is the top compartment of the fridge, not the bottom which was hastily cleaned out on the second day of our stay. Expired cream and packet of cheese for our use? – Unacceptable. Why are we charged cleaning fees? It is so that the place is thoroughly cleaned out for the next occupants. Dirty fridge with nasty comments from owner – Unacceptable. Filthy dish washing sponge? It muust also be a cultural thing like you mentioned. We did have a comfortable stay at your place despite your nasty attitude and small setbacks. We apologize for our high expectations of hospitality and cleanliness. Our past experiences with Airbnb must have spoilt us plenty. Please pardon us for our cultural differences and perhaps you will have better dealings with others in the future. And if you’ve messaged someone to say you’re coming down that night, please have the same courtesy to say you have changed your mind and not make the other person wait. Thank you.

Secrets and Lies in Morocco: Sketchy Addresses

Posted on April 5, 2016

I had been using AirBnb for a long time and actually, I was happy with it. Recently, we planned a road trip in Morocco. We booked a great place in Rabat, then two amazing places in the mountains near Dades Riad – both with local people – and finally a place in Marrakech, which was supposed to be a room with an Italian-Irish couple, Mattia and Erika. I scanned over the reviews and decided it had to be good as they are European so the standards will be up to par. I did not check how many properties and under how many addresses they advertised. I specifically said we were coming by car, asked if there was parking place, and asked for directions. They said that it was best to meet at Roti D’Or Cafe near their place. We were driving for hours, calling them (which cost us over 25 pounds) and could not find it. We asked them if they could come and meet us as we were not even 500 meters away but they refused and said we had to leave the car and take a taxi. Finally, after paying 10 Euro, a local person showed us where to park and directed us to the cafe, which was not accessible by car – it was a pedestrian zone.

We thought that was the end of our problems… how naive! We met Mattia at the cafe and everything seemed to be fine… (silly us)…. He took us to mews nearby and showed us the place. He said they didn’t live there. There were 4 rooms, and 1 bathroom (but 2 loos). All the rooms were rented, so it appeared to be a hostel! You had to wait 15 mins to take a shower after the previous person. When we said we rented a room in a private house, they acted offended. We left our stuff and went to eat something, trying to avoid a discussion when we were angry, tired and hungry. We calmed down and came back, but they were not there. The ceiling was falling down in our room, and we woke up with pieces of debris in the bed. We took photos just in case… As it was not what we booked, we cancelled the last night once we booked other accommodation. We thought, once again, that this was the end of trouble with this nightmarish couple… how naive, again!

In Morocco, when you enter the country they ask you for the address where you are staying. The hosts had sent us this information: “Hi again, At the airport you will be asked for information during the passport check; The custom police will want to know in which hotel you will be staying. They will expect you to write the name of a Riad/Hotel, but seing as this is our private home, you can write the name of the closest hostel to our house. Address in Morocco: RIAD MEDINA in derb Aadham/Kennaria. Call us if you have any problem. Cheers Mattia & Erika. Last Monday at 18:14.”

That confirmed it was their private home. Why did we end up in a hostel with one bathroom? But we wrote this address in the hotel we stayed before going to Marrakesh. We ended our trip around Morocco, and at the airport there was more paperwork… asking where we stayed, etc… Suddenly, the officer asked where we stayed in Marrakesh. We forgot what the fake address was and we said it was the hostel run by Mattia and Erika which we booked though Airbnb… Moroccan people are very nice and friendly, but not when you lie… We finally showed them the email from the couple telling us what we should write and they allowed us to leave after being surrounded by the police. Apparently, they check addresses where tourists stay (there is the reason why they want to know the address) and they could not find us. People from the plane thought we were smugglers… Not a great experience…

Unfortunately, I didn’t leave a very positive review before leaving Morocco, otherwise I would have written all about the fake address. I informed Airbnb about the hosts lying with the address and the trouble with local authorities at our departure. I also attached photos with falling down ceiling, etc. We received a 70% refund and… a super negative review from the host! I asked Airbnb to remove it as it was obvious revenge for the official complaint to Airbnb. Of course, they refused to remove it. As there are many websites I can book accommodation without being publicly insulted, I removed my account. I can’t understand why Airbnb did not react and although it was clear that Mattia and Erika do not comply with local legal regulations what might cause the trouble with authorities on departure, they decided that it was easier to delete my account…

Well, hello Airbnb competitors, pleasure to meet you!

Airbnb Reservation Canceled Last Minute!

Posted on April 1, 2016

Here’s our story: On January 15, 2016, I booked a condo on Singer Island (owner “Sherry”) in West Palm Beach, FL for my family’s spring break vacation. We were vacationing with a group of friends who were also staying on the island. My husband, daughter (12 years old) and I were set to check in on Saturday, March 19 staying through March 26. My daughter and I went a few days early to visit with family in the Orlando area.

On Wed, Mar 16, I received a text from the owner asking when we would be checking in on Saturday. I responded that we would be there about noon. The following afternoon (Thursday), I received a text from Airbnb that my reservation was cancelled. I then called and texted the owner and asked what was going on. She texted me back confirming she cancelled the reservation because she “had been sick with pneumonia” for a long time. Begs the question, then why did she wait to cancel 2 days before we were to check in, right? So here we are, already in Florida and trying to find a place to stay during the busiest time of the year. I can’t begin to describe my level of stress. While there are worse things, this was our nightmare for the next 10 hours while I called every hotel and vrbo ad trying to find a place for us to stay.

First I called Airbnb and they said they would find us a place. The representative I spoke with was extremely nice. So she sends me 9 listings. Great, right? Not so much. All of the listings she sent were booked for the time we were there. Now why would they send us listings that are not available? Unbelievable. I called back to let them know none of the listings were available so they refunded my money, gave me a $200 credit (that’s helpful when there’s no place to stay) and said “sorry we couldn’t find one for you, good luck.”

Finally after calling every resort and realtor in the area, I finally found a room at the Palm Beach Marriott on Singer Island – literally the last room available – in which I ended up paying an additional $2,000. And because the room was equipped with a “coffee kitchen,” we spent another small fortune eating out for lunch and dinner everyday and paying $30/day for parking.

This was our first time using Airbnb and, needless to say, is our last. When I posted my story on Facebook – the stories were endless about similar situations. More people should know about the risks of using Airbnb. Hope you’ll be writing another article soon.

Double Charged by Airbnb for Cockroach Resort!

Posted on April 1, 2016

I booked a 76-day trip through Airbnb at the Marina Tower Complex (also known as the Waikiki Marina) in Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii. The property was hosted by Abron (rental agent/property manager).

The first part of the nightmare begins with having to contact Airbnb to give them a new credit card number as my other credit card had been hacked, used for fraud charges, and then cancelled by the bank. While this should have been a simple task, Airbnb turned it into a nightmare with incompetent error after error. The next thing I see is an email from them stating they were taking payments from both cards, failing to cancel the old credit card. I called to correct this, and then they double charged the new card, and tried to credit the now bank cancelled old credit card. They did this despite the fact charges from them on the old card had already been processed some 6 months earlier, and they already had my money long ago. At this point I had now overpaid for the entire stay by more than $1000, and they still showed I owed them even more money on the rental receipt. They stated I would get a refund on my old cancelled card somehow and I would have to wait fifteen business days to see if the money came to me. They also stated that if after that point I still haven’t received a refund, I would have to forward them copies of all my bank statements to prove this money never went into my accounts. I was supposed to be able to do this somehow while sitting in a hotel room with nothing but a cell phone. They further stated I would have to remove the old credit card number from their site myself but their software would not allow me to view or cancel it from a cell phone. They told me to go find a computer, which I did, only to find I could not login to my account as it is connected to my gmail account on my home computer and can’t be accessed on a different computer. Furthermore, they then stated their software wouldn’t let me remove this old card until the end of the trip, two months from then. While they offered apologies and an account credit for both the numerous human errors and software failings, I had wasted too many hours with them and my bank to count on this matter mostly sitting on hold for 30 minutes at a time trying to get through to call centers.

The second part of my nightmare with Airbnb began with a request for help in dealing with problems with the vacation property and the host. The vacation property had one of its elevators break down and management decided to leave it down until major repairs could be finished later. The other elevator was only partially working as well, where the call button would trip out on circuit overloads, and the elevator would not stop at your floor most of the time. People would be generally walking down the stairs, and the property is 40 floors high. To add to this problem, cockroaches began to appear in my unit due to some plumbing done in my area and a couple untidy tenants on the same floor according to building management. The rental agent/host (Abron) for the unit refused to have the unit sprayed until several weeks had passed to get a cheap $10 end of the month spray deal, arranged by building management. He maintained he had to wait so the other units on the floor could be done at the same time to make it effective. Since it became apparent no other units were going to be sprayed on my floor and the rental manger still refused, I was forced to buy cockroach pesticides myself, but they didn’t seem to help. I decided to call Airbnb to see what they could do to help. Big mistake. They decided to penalize Abron regarding the cockroach issue with a 20% reduction in the rental rates until the unit was sprayed. However since they could only charge him this penalty in the last days of the rental agreement as he had already been paid in full until well after the the spraying would take place anyhow, he terminated the contract early, to avoid paying the penalty. A 20% reduction probably amounted to all he would have made as a rental agent anyhow. Airbnb allowed this, stating hosts can terminate if they choose to, and I was forced to find another rental for that last 17 days of my vacation, having to pay higher daily rates and double cleaning fees. Airbnb and Abron (host) both minimized their losses at my expense. Airbnb claimed Abron would not be able to rent through them for those same 17 days, however he could rent it through any other means, for additional income and to come out ahead. Airbnb only credited me part of the fees they collected from me on what became 2 rental agreements with them. Airbnb should have paid all my losses associated with their misguided intervention on this property agreement. Therefore, I will avoid ever using Airbnb again, and/or make sure to inquire that the so called “Host” is an actual owner, and not just a rental agent of the unit, who would have more to lose by terminating an agreement with either the tenant or Airbnb.

Supposedly furnished studio was not furnished!

Posted on March 31, 2016

I had never used Airbnb before, but friends had said positive things about their experiences. I wanted a studio apartment, furnished, for a month in Strasbourg, France, while I house-hunted and decided on my future. I reserved a furnished studio. I knew the location. The host accepted the reservation, and Airbnb took my money.

The host then called me to say she wanted to cancel as there was no bed in the apartment (why didn’t she know this before?) – this was while I was on my way to meet her at the apartment to get the keys! I couldn’t afford to wait for a refund and pay another rental at the same time. In any case I had to stay three nights in a hotel while waiting for the bed, which the host then decided could not be delivered for another two weeks (I could have gone to IKEA and bought a sofa bed the same afternoon in her place). At this point she offered me a 200€ refund, which I accepted, being otherwise homeless and already having spent a bunch of money I hadn’t budgeted for.

The description said the place had basic kitchen items, but there was no plate, cup, saucepan, cutlery – nothing. I had to buy all that, as well as all the bed linen. Towels too. The shower curtain was filthy, the shower didn’t drain properly, and the paint was peeling off the bathroom walls. The mirror was broken. Later I realized there was no smoke alarm, illegal in France. People smoked cannabis in the lift, corridors and hallways.

The host insisted that on move-out day (today) I had to return the keys at 10 am. So I had to leave some bags in the hallway as I couldn’t move everything at once. She just shrugged. When I came back for my last bag (a small suitcase of clothes) it had been stolen. She of course was long gone by then. I had left the apartment cleaner than I found it.

This is 1a rue des Cigognes, Strasbourg, France.

Host’s screaming baby almost leads to violence!

Posted on March 27, 2016

Stay away from 14 Judith St, Ashgrove, Brisbane! The host became violent and abusive when I simply asked if their baby was OK after hearing it cry non-stop all day! The response from Airbnb was very good when I called to complain, but it was still overall a nightmare experience.

We had put up with 11 days of screaming from their 2 yr old and the crying newborn. I’m a mother of two and never heard a baby cry like that. We got out OK and avoided voilence, but I see that Airbnb still has not taken down the listing even though there was another review complaining about the same noise issue. I feel it’s very dangerous for anyone to stay at that apartment as the host is clearly disturbed and will become hostile if anyone mentions the noise. Even though we stayed a horrible 12 days, our booking was cancelled by the host, therefore we were unable to post a review warning others. There’s no way to give a negative review on Airbnb as the hosts can block.

The next guests will have no warning because I can’t review on Airbnb!